What happens if Joey Bosa doesn’t sign his contract?

Ohhhhh Joey, Joey, Joey.

This situation has really got out of hand at this point. Word on the street is that the Chargers and Joey Bosa have stalled contract negotiations, as neither party has spoken to each other since this past Thursday. Wow.

Honestly, I can’t put all the blame on Bosa–and I can’t put all the blame on general manager Tom Telesco. There is a third wheel in this ordeal, and this third wheel definitely has a a hole in its rubber. The third wheel here would be Bosa’s agent. Ironically, the three remaining first-round draftees of the 2016 draft were all represented by the same agency. Could they be the reason why Bosa hasn’t signed yet?

In my opinion, it has to play a huge factor. Bosa is being influenced by another party, and I am pretty sure a 20-year-old kid certainly needs some assistance in these types of situations, as things can get out of hand. But let’s throw all of this aside. The real question here is, what happens if Joey Bosa ultimately decides to not sign his rookie contract?

This would be quite the situation if things do get to that point. I doubt it will, but we have to look at all potential aspects. If Bosa decides to not sign, a few things could happen. Obviously, some roster changes would have to be made. Would the coaching staff roll with the “next man up” mentality? Most likely so. Darius Philon has been getting first-team reps during training camp with the absence of Bosa. Telesco might fish for another player in search of depth in case of emergency, but that would be the most logical route if things were to get to this point.

What happens to Bosa? A couple things would happen. This isn’t the first time we have seen holdouts. Some all-time greats have held out as well. For example, Philip Rivers held out. John Elway and Bo Jackson did back in the day, too. All three situations panned out very differently, and the same could potentially happen with Bosa. Rivers’ situation would be the most mild of the three, as he did eventually sign. This would be the situation I am hoping for. Eventually one of the sides in this event will give in and Bosa will finally sign that rookie contract.

If that doesn’t happen, then the Elway/Jackson events will come into effect. “Nick, what happened with Elway and Jackson?” Stuff happened, in simplest terms. Elway was originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts at the time. Elway made it clear that he was not happy with the team and basically threatened to leave the NFL and pursue a career in baseball instead. The Colts had no choice but to trade him to the Denver Broncos–and the rest is history. Jackson was originally drafted by the Buccaneers, but the Bucs weren’t the greatest team to play for at the time, and nobody wanted to play there. Jackson held out and did not get traded or sign his rookie contract. So what ended up happening? He left the NFL for the season and re-entered the draft the following year. He fell drastically and was drafted in the final rounds of the draft and was taken by the Oakland Raiders (which was a steal). Once again, the rest is history.

If Bosa chooses not to sign with the Bolts, he could very much go through the paths of Elway or Jackson. We will either trade him away, or he could re-enter the draft next year. He will lose a lot of fans in the process of doing so and will lose a lot of respect from new fan bases and organizations in the process (and will also lose a lot of money as far as contract negotiations go). But if he is happy going that route, then it’s his choice.

Hopefully, Bosa signs his rookie contract with the Chargers soon. We need him here. We need his presence. The Chargers and Bosa (plus company) need to settle their differences and come to an agreement ASAP. It’s not looking pretty for either side.

I predict we will have ink to paper by this Friday, and Bosa will finally join the team in training camp, just in time for FanFest. Come on Joey! Let’s get this done bro! Keep your fingers crossed guys, this is turning into a roller coaster. But in the meantime, keep Bolting Up guys!